Murphy Appears!

If you've been following recent Disneyland news at all, you've probably heard about 'Murphy', the elusive new dragon for the finale of Fantasmic. Originally scheduled to debut mid-June with the return of Fantasmic, a massive wave of technical problems caught the creature off-guard. Her nickname, in fact, is a reference to Murphy's Law because just about everything that could have gone wrong with her did go wrong. As of now, Murphy has yet to make a grand appearance before audiences of Fantasmic, but Disney has worked out enough kinks to release this press video to the Orange County Register's website. Take a look!



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A Miniature Splash Mountain

On a recent trip to the beach I found myself with little to do at one point, so I resorted to an act of incredible geekiness: I decided to try my hand at building a sand model of Splash Mountain. I'm not much of a sculptor of any medium, let alone sand, but I found I was able to carve out a rough replica of the actual landmark. No doubt my lengthy amount of experience around the actual thing was of considerable help. Anyway, when all was said and done, I felt my model was worth photographing, and thus the results are posted below.



Here's an aerial shot. I was so pleased with the front of the mountain that I decided to head behind the peak and complete the flume in that area as well.

One last close-up.

In case that doesn't float your boat, here are a few more pictures from the day.




Okay, that's all from me for now!
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Forty Years of Happy Haunts

Today, August 9th, marks the 40th anniversary of a truly spirited attraction. On this date in 1969, Disneyland's famous experience known as the Haunted Mansion opened its creaking doors to guests, inviting one and all to visit all nine hundred and ninety-nine of its inhabitants. Today, the Haunted Mansion has become an addition to three other Disney parks throughout the world and is just as popular today as it was when it opened.

The Haunted Mansion just so happens to be one of my favorite attractions in the park thanks to its incredible artistic detail, memorable moments (who could ever forget the hitchhiking ghosts?), as well as wealth of backstory. In fact, I came to appreciate the ride much more after visiting doombuggies.com and becoming familiar with the legends and myths created around everything inside.

Anyway, enough rambling. If you're looking for me tonight, I'll be at the mansion.
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